Complete HarpWeek Explanation:For nearly 20 years Harper's Weekly had been a strong and consistent promoter of
civil rights for black Americans. This cartoon contrasts the apparently racist
attitude of 1880 Democratic presidential nominee Winfield Hancock with the
racially egalitarian sentiments of Republican President Abraham Lincoln
(1861-1865). The top quote in the box is an allegation made during the 1880
presidential campaign by former president and Union commander Ulysses S. Grant
against Hancock. It is paired with an opposing and exemplary opinion expressed
by Lincoln during the 1858 Lincoln-Douglas debates in Illinois. The artist hopes
that Hancock's previously expressed view will, like the figure of Lincoln in
this cartoon, come back to haunt the Democratic nominee on election day.